The bill strikes at the heart of the PATRIOT Act, the unconstitutional monstrosity passed by Congress and signed into law by George W. Bush on October 26, 2001. LIBERT-E Act would also restrict the government’s ability to conduct surveillance not connected to an ongoing investigation. It calls for the illegal and unconstitutional FISA Court to make its secret opinions available to Congress and the American people.

The LIBERT-E Act, however, falls far short of correcting the problem. The PATRIOT Act should be repealed immediately and the FISA Court dismantled. Unfortunately, neither of these things will happen due to more than a decade of propaganda to brainwash the American people into falsely believing they face a terrorist threat and therefore must surrender their birthright enshrined in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

LIBERT-E is a noble if half-hearted effort sponsored by 32 members of Congress. They released the following statement on the legislation:

“The recent NSA leaks indicate that the federal government collects phone records and intercepts electronic communications on a scale previously unknown to most Americans.
“The LIBERT-E Act imposes reasonable limits on the federal government’s surveillance. The bill puts some teeth into the FISA court’s determination of whether records the government wants are actually relevant to an investigation. It also makes sure that innocent Americans’ information isn’t needlessly swept up into a government database. LIBERT-E prohibits the type of government dragnet that the leaked Verizon order revealed.

“We accept that free countries must engage in secret operations from time to time to protect their citizens. Free countries must not, however, operate under secret laws. Secret court opinions obscure the law. They prevent public debate on critical policy issues and they stop Congress from fulfilling its duty to enact sound laws and fix broken ones.

“LIBERT-E lets every congressman have access to FISA court opinions so that Congress can have a more informed debate about security and privacy. And the bill requires that unclassified summaries of the opinions be available to the public so that Americans can judge for themselves the merit of their government’s actions.

“We are proud to lead a broad, bipartisan coalition that’s working to protect privacy. It shouldn’t matter whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican. Defending the Constitution and protecting Americans’ rights should be an effort we all can support.”

Putting “reasonable limits on the federal government’s surveillance” will permit the government to continue its surveillance. Instead of half measures, Congress needs to call for the dismantlement of the NSA – and the CIA and FBI – and all legislation that violates the Fourth Amendment needs to be immediately repealed.

Finally, all the criminals who have conspired against the Constitution need to be arrested immediately – including standing and ex-presidents – and put on trial for treason.

Anything short of a strenuous effort will result in failure. Half measures and statements released by a handful of Congress members will be ignored as the fascist juggernaut rolls forward. The ruling elite are now a hair’s breadth away from finishing the installation of their high-tech surveillance and police state. If they successfully fend off attempts to preserve the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, in the not too distant future all opposition to their fascist rule will be impossible.